The Substance (2024)

Plot of The Substance: Elisabeth Sparkle, an aerobics presenter on TV, is dumped by her producer, because she is too old on the day of her 50th birthday. On the way home, distracted, she has a car crash, but survives unscathed. However in hospital she is slipped a flash drive advertising The Substance, which will give her what she desires, a younger, more beautiful, sexier self. She throws it away but later recovers it and, following telephone instructions, recovers a box containing stuff, including a single use syringe. She injects herself and another younger woman emerges from her back. It is her but a better self in all respects. The only thing is that the new person, who calls herself Sue, and the old Elisabeth must take turns, week about, without fail. The new Sue gets the job of replacing Elisabeth on the television, using her physical perfection in the new show called Pump it Up. Later when she has something going with a young man, she extends her time, and when the change later takes place Elisabeth sees that one of her fingers is now aged. In response she starts to binge eat, the result being grotesquely carried forward into Sue’s body. It can only get worse!

Content: There is a lot of female nudity, extending even to well groomed pubic hair, and to a stage show where all the dancers are virtually naked, but sexual activity is only inferred. The car crash is sudden and deafening in the cinema. The drug, the Substance, is injected a lot. The aerobics show Pump It Up, is raunchy. When Elisabeth is preparing her meals she has a large chicken or turkey ready for cooking, with its orifices visible and which she is squeezing. We know what she is on about. In a café she meets a very old man who confides in her that his other self is taking more time than he should. The other self is the male nurse who slipped her the pen drive. It can only end in disaster when Sue gets the job of presenting the channel’s Christmas show.

A View: This film has been well liked by the critics and has already made money. I think it is one of those which will linger for a long time in the cinemas, because it has a lot going for it, not least the committed performances by the actors.  It is stunningly  noisy. I came out of the cinema with a bit of a headache. I did have some questions when I thought about the plot, which I won’t go into, because it might spoil your experience. But probably one of the best and most thought provoking films of the year, so get down to your local multiplex and be stunned.

 Fun Fact: Margaret Qualley was given prosthetic breasts for her nude scenes. She said ‘Unfortunately, there is no magic boob potion, so we had to glue those on… [they endowed] me with the rack of a lifetime—just not my lifetime.’